


The beef bros

by NohaIjiachi



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Gen, a bit of Ren/Ryuji if you squint, because I'm weak for dem boys, kink meme fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 08:17:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16384559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NohaIjiachi/pseuds/NohaIjiachi
Summary: Owner that seemed on the verge of happy tears. “So much progress— Amazing— I must know your work-out regime—““Oh, uhm.” Ren coughed, embarrassed. “M-Maybe another time? I think we really ought to go home, now.” He turned toward the girls. “Right?”The girls had turned completely taciturn as the whole display went on. The all seemed to be staring at some point down his neck— were they ogling his arms?“We must mark this day as they day you totally shut all of them up.” Ryuji commented, unholy glee in his voice as he slapped an heavy hand on Ren’s shoulder. “C’mon, loverboy, go get changed and let’s go home.”





	The beef bros

**Author's Note:**

> For this [prompt at the kinkmeme](https://personakinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/993.html?thread=23265): "Spoilers for the end of the game:
> 
> Having nothing better to do after his confession, Joker finds himself passing much of the time working out in his cell. By the time of his release, he emerges cut as all hell and everybody notices. Queue shenanigans in trying to pretend they don't or outright ogling without a care in the world."
> 
>  
> 
> Yes, old prompt, I came in so late, I don't care, it begged to be written lmao. Enjoy the sillyness.

There were plenty of things Ren expected the moment he first stepped through the entrance of the juvenile detention center at the outskirts of Tokyo with cuffs heavy on his wrists and nothing but a sad, half-empty duffle bag of clothing he was okayed to bring with him.

 

He expected he’d have to watch his back pretty much constantly. He expected for the guards to treat him like the lowest of scum. He expected he’d find himself looking outside any window at any possible occasion, longingly thinking about his friends, wondering if they were angry at him for not telling them anything—

 

He didn’t really expect the boredom. He should’ve, really. Seeing as they were all minors they were given ‘lessons’ and books to read, but seeing as he actually went overboard with his studies in the past months, wanting to keep up his appearance of model student to ward off any unnecessary suspicion, those were hardly engaging for him. There were some pitiful activities they could sign up for, but he couldn’t exactly say he found any of those stimulating, either. Not to mention the general wariness he was surrounded with whenever he went in the hours they got outside their ‘rooms’.

 

Ren knew that Sae tried her best not to let the voices about him being the leader of the Phantom Thieves go around too much, but there was very little she could do, from the outside.

 

Much to his surprise, no one gave him an hard time. Most of the other inmates just seemed to give him a wide berth, and the guards just stuck to their roles and spoke to him only if strictly necessary.

 

It took him three days, to get the idea. He was leaning on his sad, gray bed in his sad, gray room, attempting to keep his attention on the book of literature that was doing very little to help him do so. His eyelids felt so heavy, and he was so drowsy. He had no idea one could literally fall asleep out of sheer boredom until that moment, but he knew that if he just gave in and napped, he’d never be able to shut an eye coming nightfall.

 

He snapped the book closed with a sigh, remaining belly up on his thin, uncomfortable bed and looking at the sturdy looking beams on the ceiling. He distantly wondered if places like this were even supposed to have stuff an inmate could so easily hang themselves from. Maybe they were _hoping_ he’d kill himself.

 

Well, tough shit, he thought to himself. He was certainly not going to off himself _now_ , not after all the sweat and blood and tears he went through, and certainly _not_ without seeing his friends once more.

 

Besides, Morgana would be hella psised if they met in the afterlife.

 

Thinking about Morgana made a painful pang sting him from the inside out. He missed the little guy—

 

He blinked, suddenly hit by the idea. The beam looked kinda like the one on the ceiling of his attic room, sturdy enough to sustain his weight. Maybe…

 

He rose on his feet. From the bed it was easy enough to jump up and secure a tight grip on the beam. He gave a couple of testing tugs. No suspicious noises.

 

 _Well_. He thought to himself, shedding the hoodie he was wearing and remaining in just a thin undershirt, knowing he was soon gonna sweat up a storm. _At least I got something to do._

 

—

 

The familiar exercise he could engage with in his own room wasn’t the only one he decided to go for. There was something about the physical activity that put his mind at ease— At least as much as it was possible while being prisoner in juvie for a crime he didn’t commit -and some he definitely did, although there were really no pieces of legislation that could possibly condemn him for his actions as Joker.-

 

Just using his stamina down to the last drop helped. He slept easier, and wasn’t as plagued by melancholy as he was in the first few days. He took the hours of freedom in the gardens to run, perfecting the techniques Ryuji taught him. He actually checked some books outside the pitiful library. They were thin and outdated, but explained well enough how to engage in other exercise safely and effectively. He took to doing push-ups and other things he was never interested into, before. He even managed to make himself some makeshift weights to lift by tying together his useless ‘school’ books by sacrificing one of his older, faded shirt, tearing it into thinner long strings to tie the books together. He used those for three good days, before one of the guards peeked in during the usual round and chuckled.

 

“We have a gym you can use, you know.” He said, somewhat amused. Ren blinked up at him, surprised. “Didn’t you know?” The guard added.

 

“If no one tells me anything— I can hardly read people’s mind.” Ren replied, flat, putting down the little stack of books. The guard sniffed.

 

“I’ll show you tomorrow.” He said.

 

—

 

The name of the guard was Achiba Yashi.

 

“You won’t be able to use it with no supervision, but I can sign in as your guard.” He said, when he walked Ren into the small gym. “I’ll let you know my shifts, so we can organize accordingly.”

 

Ren took into the scene. The gym had equipment that seemed to be even more outdated than the ones in Protein Lovers, but the basics were all there. His mind was already going a mile a minute, thinking about all the stuff he could do in here.

 

He turned to Yashi, eyeing him carefully from behind his glasses. “Why are you doing this?”

 

Yashi seemed to take good fifteen seconds, before answering in a soft voice. “My daughter is in the volleyball team at Shujin.”

 

Well. That was an upside Ren didn’t see coming at all.

 

—

 

Ren walked back from his meeting with Sae Nijima with a light head and heart drumming in his chest.

 

He could be able to go back in his room and collect his measly possessions back in his bag. He could do so knowing fully they were going to be the last hours he’d have to spend in the sad, gray room—

 

Knowing he would go back in just a bit. Back to his friends, back to LeBlanc, back to _reality_.

 

He wasn’t surprised to find Achiba-san waiting for him at the entrance of ward number three. The man smiled at him through the tiny reinforced glass window in the heavy steel door that opened with a loud buzz to let him in.

 

“I’ve heard the news.” He said without much preambles. “Congratulations.”

 

Ren smiled up at him sincerely. In the almost two months he spent there, Achiba-san was about the only person that gifted him not only any kind of human interaction, but did so with respect. He was a good man, allowing him to use his time to go to the gym and keeping him company, chatting with him or even spotting him when he started to lift the more serious weights.

 

“Thank you.” Ren replied with honest appreciations. “I— I won’t forget what you did for me, Achiba-san. If you ever happen to walk by Yongen-Jaya, go to a café called LeBlanc and tell the owner I sent you— He’d probably hook you on his delicious coffee and curry for free.”

 

The man laughed. “I’ll do. Considering how much you’ve spoken about this fated curry, it must be out of this world. You’ve piqued my curiosity for sure.” His eyes softened. It was hard to imagine a man as kind as this working as what was more or less a prison guard. “You’re a good kid. Try not to get into any more trouble, ok?”

 

Ren flashed him a lopsided little grin. “I’ll try. Can’t make any promise, though.”

 

Achiba-san walked him back to his room, laughing.

 

—

 

Sojiro blinked repeatedly at him, when he stepped through the door into the road outside, finally _free_.

 

Ren blinked back, distantly registering in the back of his mind that Sae sported a very similar expression, when she stepped on the other side of the glass wall, but a handful of hours later. At the moment he hadn’t really thought much of it— He figured she must have a lot going through her head, with Shido’s case and all— But now the similarities definitely made some questions raise from the back of his mind.

 

He didn’t really had the time to express them, though. Sojiro leaned his arm out the window of his small car, greeting him with the usual, deep voice.

 

“Hey, you kept me waiting. Geez.” There was a lopsided little smile on his face. “To be honest, I didn’t really wanna come, but Futaba wouldn’t stop bugging me.”

 

Ren grinned. He was going _home_.

 

—

 

After he hesitated just a tiny bit in front of the very familiar sight of LeBlanc’s door, Ren finally managed to calm down his racing heart just enough to allow himself to push the door open much like he had done probably about hundreds of times, by now. He still felt the smile on his face, the smile that hadn’t left ever since he climbed into the car with Sojiro. He felt almost blinded for a second at the sight of the warm interior of the café, the smell of coffee that never left the place, and the sight that made his heart swell ten times it’s normal size in his chest. All his friends, there, waiting for him, anxiously sitting in their respective spots, impatient— They all turned at the jingle of the door, smiles spreading across their faces, rushing off their seatings to run toward him—

 

“Namaste!” Futaba cheered, jumping in front of him like an overexcited frog. She then blinked at his chest, and then looked up at him with wide eyes.

 

“You look— Well.” Ann commented, just as cheerful as Futaba was, although there was something undefinable in her voice Ren couldn’t quite understand. Ryuji was just staring at him like he could not believe Ren was in front of them, and both Makoto and Haru seemed to be very distracted by something around his chest. Yusuke looked him up and down.

 

“This is interesting, you’d do for a fine model— _Oof_.” His comment was interrupted by Ryuji, elbowing him sharply.

 

“I don’t think Ren wanna think ‘bout any of that, right now.” Ryuji said, flat, before circling Ren’s shoulders with an arm. “Good to see you, dude. C’mon, sit down.”

 

Ren laughed inwardly at the familiar scene. He truly missed his friends so much— He allowed Ryuji to guide him toward one of the booth and sitting down, all of them reuniting around him.

 

“Well, I’ll leave you be, I’m sure you have much to talk about.” Sojiro commented, clear fondness in his voice, before making himself scarce. Truly enough, they rapidly fell into a thick discussion about how they managed to get Ren out of juvie, and then reminiscing about the fact that they still sadly missed one member to complete the group…

 

Member that stepped in with a jingle and soft paws not making a sound, inevitably causing all of them to rise from their seating once more, Ryuji yelling “Mona?!”

 

Many surprised questions later and Morgana filling them in in what happened after the final battle, they were all considerably much more relaxed and happier, just content to have the whole gang back together. Morgana jumped down his stool only to jump right up by Ren’s side, small paws on his thigh as Morgana examined him closely.

 

“You haven’t wasted time, I see.” He commented, something amused in his boyish voice. Ann let out a soft little cough.

 

“Weren’t you saying that you wanted to shower before getting hugs? Getting all up in Ren’s personal space, I see.” She said, and again, there was some kind of undertone Ren just couldn’t quite grasp in her voice—

 

“Alright, fine—“ Morgana replied, a little petulant.

 

Ren didn’t really focus on any of that. He was just so happy— Happy to be back, happy to be with the people he loved the most, happy to discover Morgana was still with them— They celebrated long into the night, eating and drinking and talking about everything, not a care in the world.

 

—

 

“Here, you can have this.” Ryuji sighed, sliding the chocolate across the table. “Happy Valentine for us ‘losers’.”

 

Ren couldn’t help but chuckle. Considering— Well, everything, it hadn’t even registered in the back of his mind that it was going to be Valentine’s day when he woke up long past noon. He slept so well, back in the familiar bed in the attic with Morgana curling at the end of it, keeping his feet warm— He woke up so rested and relaxed, almost snail-like as he went about to get dressed and then went downstairs to help Sojiro with the shop a bit, sliding back into a familiar routine like he never left in the first place. He only stopped when the café emptied and Ryuji arrived, looking dejected.

 

At least a smile was already opening back on Ryuji’s face. “It’s good to see you, man.” He said, softly. “It’s— Just good to watch you sit across me. We’ve all missed you a lot.”

 

“And I missed you guys.” Ren replied, honest, distractedly playing with the little square-shaped chocolate.

 

“So, how was juvie?” Ryuji asked, leaning back on the seating. “Hope they treated you well— Not that I can imagine anyone trying to start shit with you, when you look like this.”

 

“It was boring. To be honest it wasn’t much different from Shujin, everyone avoiding me and stuff— But more boring.” Ren sighed, adjusting his glasses. “There was a guy that was pretty cool, though. Treated me nice. Told him to come by here one of these days, hopefully he’ll do before I leave.”

 

Bringing up the fact he was going to leave in about a month immediately seemed to put a damper on Ryuji’s mood. Ren wasn’t surprised— After all, Ryuji was the one that piped up the day prior, asking Ren if he’d really have to leave.

 

In an attempt to try cheer his friend back up a bit, Ren rolled the chocolate around on the table, asking. “What do you mean about me looking like _this_ , anyway? You guys have been acting weird since yesterday.”

 

Ryuji blinked at him, tilting one of his eyebrow just slightly. “Really, dude. You gonna try to play it coy?” He asked, flat. Ren blinked at him.

 

“Playing— what coy?”

 

“Oh my god, you really don’t know.” Ryuji whispered, exasperated. “That’s— Infuriating, god, sometimes I wish I could just punch your dumb pretty face without feeling guilty after.” Ren didn’t really had the time to try tease him about the ‘pretty face’ comment, seeing as Ryuji continued. “Weren’t there mirrors in juvie?”

 

“Uh, no. Too much risk someone might break one and use the pieces as a weapon.” Ren replied, shrugging. Ryuji’s lips thinned.

 

“And there isn’t one in this rat-hole’s bathroom either—“ He sighed, shaking his head.

 

“Ryuji, can’t you just spell it out?” Ren asked when he seemed to trail off.

 

“You know what? Nah. It’s much funnier this way and makes me feel less jelly—“

 

“Jealous of _what_?”

 

“Ain’t tellin’—“

 

“ _Ryuji_ —“

 

—

 

The weirdness didn’t seem to stop there. About an hour after Ryuji left, wishing him good night with a shit eating grin and the satisfied expression of someone that was greatly enjoying being a dick to their recently-released-from-prison-friend, Ren picked up his phone.

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: Are you guys busy tomorrow afternoon? I really need to do a shopping trip and buy some new clothes, all my older ones don’t fit anymore for some reason…_

 

 **_Ryuji_ ** _: … You are somehow the smartest and yet thickest person I’ve ever met in my life_

 

 **_Ryuji_ ** _: NO ONE TELL HIM. I’m milking this for all it’s worth._

 

Ren watched, perplexed, as the little notification at the bottom of the screen informed him that Yusuke was writing something… But no message came in. Ann replied, instead.

 

 **_Ann_ ** _: I’ll be happy to come. There are sales going and I really need some new winter stuff, too._

 

 **_Haru_ ** _: I’m free, too. It’s going to be so much fun! <3_

 

 **_Makoto_ ** _: Indeed._

 

 **_Futaba_ ** _: I’m bringing a camera_

 

 **_Yusuke_ ** _: Please take many reference pictures for me, as I won’t be able to attend._

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: Reference…. Of what, exactly_

 

 **_Ryuji_ ** _: I swear to god if anyone tells him I will personally come find you and skin you alive with my bare hands_

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: Ryuji c’mon can’t you just tell me what this whole thing is about_

 

 **_Ryuji_ ** _: Milking. It. To the death._

 

Ren sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Morgana, that was peeking over his shoulder, let out a familiar snicker but followed with nothing else.

 

—

 

By the third time one of the girls ‘accidentally’ opened the curtains as he was in one of the small cubicles to try a shirt before he gave them the ok, giggling, with Futaba holding up an actual honest-to-god professional camera, Ren was just more confused than ever. He sighed as they got out the umpteenth shop with an increasingly lighter wallet and increasingly heavier bag of clothing. He bought three new pairs of jeans and a couple of sweatsuits, and a good chunk of shirts. For some reason all the ones he had with him in juvie and that he left in the attic at LeBlanc seemed to be a bit too tight on him, especially on his chest.

 

Now he needed just a couple of jackets and he’d be set for a bit. And for those, at least, he didn’t need to take off anything. No risk for the girls to decide to embarrass him some more.

 

Ryuji had been following mostly silent, walking with his usual slouch, hands in his pocket. He tilted an eyebrow in front of Ren’s pleading looks, and even rolled his eyes when Ren whispered to him. “Why are the girls so dead set on embarrassing me, today?”

 

“Yes. Embarrassing you. That’s exactly what they doin’” He replied, with the air of someone that knew much more than Ren did.

 

They walked down a familiar road. Ren kind of wanted to stop by Untouchable and say hi to Iwai, but he figured it wasn’t the right moment. Maybe he’d come back tomorrow, alone, or with just Ryuji.

 

“Oh, remember when we went there?” Ann attracted his attention, pointing at the alley where Protein Lovers was located. “We had fun those days, huh.”

 

“You went there?” Haru asked, tilting her head on a side. “Seems very— Manly.”

 

“It’s not a bad place! I had fun with these two.” Ann replied, pointing with a thumb at Ren and Ryuji. “Guess Ren really got to heart the whole protein lovin’ schtick.”

 

“What?” Ren asked, perplexed, with a little head shake. The girls were giggling again, for some reason.

 

“ _…Most clueless motherfucker…_ “ Ryuji was whispering behind him, as Futaba piped up. “Why don’t we go now?”

 

“Now?” Ren asked, even more perplexed. They all did some purchases, plastic bags hanging from their elbows— It seemed hardly the time.

 

“Don’t you want to keep up with your prison work-out habits?” Futaba chirped, lolling on the balls of her feet.

 

“Well, I guess I won’t mind, but right now— Wait.” Ren started to reply, before the sentence properly registered. “How do you know about that?”

 

“I have my ways.” Futaba replied, waving her fingers around. Ann was openly laughing in her palm, now. “So?”

 

“I—“

 

“Yeah, man, let’s go.” Ryuji intervened, voice like honeyed poison. “I wanna see you lift.”

 

Ren closed his mouth. The conversation was taking a very strange turn—

 

But before he could protest any further, he was already being dragged toward Protein Lovers.

 

—

 

The sweatsuit he just bought smelled _new_ so strongly it was almost irritating, but at least it fitted comfortably, the sleeves of his t-shirt not as tight on his biceps as the ones home had been. The girls had claimed one of the benches propped by the door, squeezed together in the too tight space and with plastic bags at their feet, seemingly very eager. Futaba was already holding up her camera.

 

“Amamiya, was it?” One of the owners welcomed him once he got out of the changing room. “I haven’t seen you around in a bit—“ He gave Ren a look over. “Been busy, huh?”

 

Once more, Ren didn’t really had the time to ask what it meant, as Ryuji interjected.

 

“Chief, can you spot him? I’d do it but ya know—“ He made a vague gesture toward Ren. “I think at this point he’s past over what I can deal with. Better be safe than sorry.”

 

“What are you talking about? You can spot me just fine—“ Ren tried to protest, frowning, but the owner was already guiding him toward the bench with an hand on his shoulder.

 

“Here, let me see your progress— We can talk about your methods, later—“ He was saying, something almost manic in his voice.

 

Giving in to the fact everyone was just going to be weird, forever, Ren just focused on warming up a bit. If he heard Futaba’s camera going off as he stretched, he elected to ignore it, for his sanity.

 

“Let’s start with this—“ The owner commented once Ren took place on the bench, securing the weights on the pole. Ren took a deep breath and then lifted it with enough ease— The owner seemed even more manic as he added more weights once Ren put the pole back into a safer position, mumbling. “Your technique has improved, let’s see, if we add this—“

 

He seemed to never stop adding up. Ren was starting to wonder which point they would reach— When he used the bench press in juvie there were only sets of weights so worn off he couldn’t even read the numbers on them anymore, so even he wasn’t quite sure how much he could lift—

 

“Dude, what the heck—“ Ryuji whispered as he lifted once more. He was starting to feel it more, but not to the point he’d have trouble rising his arms up. “You could bench press _me_.”

 

“Oh.” Ren replied in a little wheeze, putting the pole back into the resting spot. “Really?”

 

“How can you not know that?!”

 

Ren shrugged once he sat back up, drying a thin sheen of sweat that formed on his forehead with his wrist. He would’ve replied, but he didn’t exactly want to say the word ‘juvie’ in front of the owner.

 

Owner that seemed on the verge of happy tears. “So much progress— Amazing— I must know your work-out regime—“

 

“Oh, uhm.” Ren coughed, embarrassed. “M-Maybe another time? I think we really ought to go home, now.” He turned toward the girls. “Right?”

 

The girls had turned completely taciturn as the whole display went on. The all seemed to be staring at some point down his neck— were they ogling his arms?

 

“We must mark this day as they day you totally shut all of them up.” Ryuji commented, unholy glee in his voice as he slapped an heavy hand on Ren’s shoulder. “C’mon, loverboy, go get changed and let’s go home.”

 

—

 

“Seriously, this has been fun while it lasted, but it’s getting old.” Ren sighed as he and Ryuji stood in the changing room, Ren shedding his vaguely humid shirt and putting it in a separate bag. Ryuji was leaning with a shoulder against the wall, arms crossed. “Can you just tell me why you are all acting so weird.”

 

Ryuji sighed, a little, lopsided smile emerging on his mouth. He shifted upright, approaching Ren and taking his wrist.

 

“Come here a sec.” He simply said, crossing over the low wall that separated the changing room from the shower stalls. He positioned Ren in front of the big mirror that almost covered the entire height of the wall. “Look at yourself, you dumbass.”

 

Ren blinked, admittedly feeling weird. He hadn’t looked at a reflection of himself in almost two months. He looked the same, he thought, peering into his own gray eyes hidden behind the glasses and at his slightly longer, but just as messy as ever, hair.

 

And then— Oh.

 

Everything made much more sense, now.

 

His body was much different than he remembered it being. Whereas he was used to seeing lean, elegant lines run down along his thin body and relatively timid muscles, now there were much harder and more definite ones. The lines of his pecs squeezing together, a full blown six pack on his belly. Muscles he wasn’t even sure quite existed on his sides. His shoulders seemed fuller, his biceps much rounder. Ryuji, standing right next to him, looked like a noodle, which was ridiculous. Ryuji had always had a far more definite muscle mass than him— Up until that moment, apparently.

 

“I see it on your face that you get it, now.” Ryuji shook his head, amused. “How have you got this far without noticing? And how did you get _like this_?”

 

“It’s— I don’t know, I didn’t really think about it. And as I said, no mirrors.” Ren replied, dazed. “And— Well, I’ve been pretty much working out from morning to night every day, the entire time I was there.”

 

“Wha— For real?!” Ryuji laughed. “I didn’t peg you as the meat-head type.”

 

“There wasn’t much to do— Or anything, really.” Ren mumbled, nervously running an hand along his arm— Wow, how did he not notice how much bigger his biceps had got? “And working out was the only thing that kept my mind off of things, helping me sleep at night…”

 

Ryuji seemed to sober considerably at that, his eyes darkening. He put a light touch on Ren’s shoulder, sighing.

 

“I see.” He simply said, subdued. “I’m— Just glad you found something that helped out.”

 

“Mh.” Ren sniffed, not liking the sad expression that rose on Ryuji’s face one bit. He turned, plastering a little smirk on his face. “So, you are jealous, huh.”

 

“What the heck, man.” Ryuji snapped, petulant. “You already had the pretty face, the brains, the charisma, the charm— And now this too?! I’m offended. Offended, I say—“

 

When Ren laughed, Ryuji couldn’t help but join in, before playfully shoving him.

 

“Go cover up all that beef and then let’s go tell the girls they can split the fare for this.” He commented, eyes sparkling with mischief. “Since they wanted a show, they can pay for it.”

 

—

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: I can’t believe you really said the words ‘cover up all that beef’_

 

 **_Ryuji_ ** _: Hey dude, there was more beef in that room than at the Beef Bowl Shop. Totally legit._

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: You are ridiculous._

 

 **_Ryuji_ ** _: So are you. Wanna meet up at Protein Lovers tomorrow so you can give me some of those sweet pointers? Then one day we can be the beef bros._

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: RIDICULOUS_

 

 **_Ren_ ** _: But deal._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> As usual you can find me on [tumblr](http://nohaijiachi.tumblr.com/) and [on twitter!](https://twitter.com/NohaVale)


End file.
